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Katie Surma

Reporter, Pittsburgh

Katie Surma is a reporter at Inside Climate News covering the rights of nature movement and international environmental justice. Her work has a strong focus on the intersection of human rights and the environment. Before joining ICN, she practiced law, specializing in commercial litigation. Her journalism work has been recognized by the Overseas Press Club, the Society of International Journalists, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and others. Katie has a master’s degree in investigative journalism from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, an LLM in international rule of law and security from ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, a J.D. from Duquesne University, and was a History of Art and Architecture major at the University of Pittsburgh. Katie lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
  • @katiesurma.bsky.social
  • @Katie_Surma
  • [email protected]
A view of Honduras' capital city, Tegucigalpa. Credit: Nicholas Kusnetz/Inside Climate News

One Small Country, Nearly $20 Billion in Corporate Claims

By Nicholas Kusnetz, Katie Surma

Two birds are visible, long beaks in the water beside plants

Humans Are Wiping Out Water Bodies That Life Depends On, New Report Says

By Katie Surma

Pablo Saavedra Alessandri, secretary of the Inter-American Court Human Right, speaks during a presentation of the court’s advisory opinion on July 2 in San José, Costa Rica. Credit: Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Nations Must Act to Face Climate Crisis, Top Regional Court Says

By Bob Berwyn, Katie Surma

Ayshka Najib (second from right), a climate activist based in the United Arab Emirates, protests at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai, UAE, in 2023. Credit: Courtesy of Ayshka Najib

The Ecofeminist Movement Is Surging. Here’s What Its Advocates Want

By Katie Surma

Princess Angelika Lātūfuipeka Tukuʻaho from the Kingdom of Tonga speaks at the One Ocean Science Congress on June 4 ahead of the U.N. Ocean Conference in Nice, France. Credit: Stephane Lesbats/Ifremer

Tonga Poised to Be the First Country to Recognize Rights of Whales

By Katie Surma

A helicopter overflies the area of a collapsed dam as rescue workers search for victims near the town of Brumadinho in southeastern Brazil on Jan. 25, 2019. Credit: Douglas Magno/AFP via Getty Images

Rich Countries’ Energy Transitions Threaten Indigenous Peoples and the Environment

By Katie Surma

The Secretive System Enabling Billion-Dollar Payouts

ICN Sunday Morning

A worker checks solar panels at the Benban Solar Energy Park in Aswan, Egypt, on April 21, 2024. A consortium of Chinese investors helped finance the solar park in 2021 as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Credit: Ahmed Gomaa/Xinhua via Getty Images

For the First Time, China Invests More in Wind and Solar Than Coal Overseas

By Katie Surma, Georgina Gustin, Nicholas Kusnetz

Human rights attorney Alejandra Gonza (right) stands with Brenda Díaz Valencia, who is holding a photo of her father, Antonio Díaz Valencia, and his colleague Ricardo Arturo Lagunes Gasca, in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 3, 2024. The two men disappeared after criticizing mining practices in Mexico. Credit: Richard Pierrin/AFP via Getty Images

Defending Human Rights Is Dangerous. Defending Nature Makes It Even Riskier

By Katie Surma

An aerial view of oil storage containers at Chevron’s Pasadena refinery in Texas. Credit: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

How the World’s Most Powerful Corporations Have Fought Accountability for Climate Change

By Katie Surma

Silvana Nihua, a member of the Kiwaro community and former OWAP president, sits near a sacred waterfall in a Waorani community's territory, Pastaza, Ecuadorian Amazon. Credit: Nico Kingman/Amazon Frontlines

Who Has the Right to Decide What Happens on Indigenous Lands?

By Katie Surma

Mari Luz Canaquiri Murayari receives the Goldman Environmental Prize for her decades-long fight to protect the Marañón River in Peru. Credit: Goldman Environmental Prize

Rights of Nature Defender Wins Goldman Prize for Precedent-Setting Work Protecting an Imperiled River

By Katie Surma

Sean Donahue, nominee to lead the EPA’s Office of General Counsel, speaks to a Senate committee during his confirmation hearing on March 26. Credit: Senate Environment and Public Works Committee

Trump’s Nominee for EPA’s Top Lawyer Advances Despite Scant Legal Qualifications

By Katie Surma

People attend the burial of indigenous environmental activist Quinto Inuma Alvarado, leader of the Kichwa community in remote Peru, on Dec. 2, 2023. Credit: Christian Sierra/AFP via Getty Images

Rural Human Rights Defenders Face Serious and Growing Risks, UN Report Reveals

By Katie Surma

A group of Adélie penguins hop around on a beach of Paulet Island on the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Credit: Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images

What Are the Rights of Nature?

By Katie Surma

China Is Reshaping Global Development. Is That Good for the Planet?

By Katie Surma

Carola Rackete looks into the Majdanpek copper mine in East Serbia. The mine, run by the Chinese company Zijin, has been linked to large scale pollution, river alteration and deficient environmental impact studies. Credit: Courtesy of Carola Rackete

The European Politician Bringing Nature Into the Halls of Power

By Katie Surma

Conta, a member of the Tagaeri and Baihuaeri Waorani Indigenous groups, appears before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights via pre recorded video on Aug. 23, 2022. Credit: Courtesy of the Inter American Court of Human Rights

Landmark Ruling on Uncontacted Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Strikes at Oil Industry

By Katie Surma

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